Improvement in gun-locks



E. T. STARR.

Gun-Lock.

No. 51,529. Patented Dec. 119, 1865.

Mb; mm:

NFEI'ERS, FHOTO-UTHOGRRFHHL WASHINGTONv D C.

Urra TATES M rion.

ATENT IMPROVEMENT IN GUN-LOCKS.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 5 L629, dated December19, 1865 To all whom it may concern." ,I r

Be it known that I, EBEN T. STARR, of the city, county, and State of NewYork, have invented a new and useful Improvement in the Locks ofRevolving and other Repeating Fire- Arms; and 1 do hereby declare thatthe following is a full, clear, and exact description of the same,reference being had to the accom pan ying drawings, forming part of thisspecifiea' tion, in which- Figures 1 and 2 represent verticallongitudinal sections of part of the frame of a pistol and side views ofthe lock, representing the parts of the latter in different positions.Fig. 3 is a front view of the parts of the lock. Fig. 4 is a transversesection in the plane indicated by the line 00 w in Fig. 1. Fig. 5 is aview of the opposite side of the trigger to that shown in Figs. 1 and 2.

Similar letters of reference indicate corresponding parts in the severalfigures.

This inventionrelates to the locks of what are known as self-cocking,revolving, or repeating fire-armsthat is to say, revolvin g or repeatingfire-arms the hammers of which are drawn back for rapidly repeatingfiring through the agency of the trigger or of a lever under the stock.

It consists in constructing the trigger, the lever for drawing back thehammer, and the sear in one piece-or, in other words, making one pieceserve the three purposes of a trigger, a lever for drawing back thehammer, and a sear.

It also consists in certain novel means of combining the hammer with atrigger or a lever which serves the purpose of drawing it back, wherebythe hammer is enabled to be both drawn back and let off by the saidtrigger or lever'for rapidly repeated firing, but permitted to be cookedand let off in the common way, when desired.

To enable others skilled in the art to make and apply my invention, Iwill proceed to describe it with reference to the drawings.

A is the frame of the arm. B is the hammer, working on a pin, 0, securedin the frame,.and having its tumbler B of the usual form, except that arecess, a, is formed entirely across one side, below the pin 0, toreceive a projection, b, which is formed upon the corresponding side ofthe rear portion of the piece E, which serves l l l I as the trigger,the sear, and a lever for drawing back the hammer.

G is the mainspring, applied substantially in the usual manner. o

D is a short pin, fitted to work easily in a hole drilled transverselythrough the tumbler B, below and forward of the pin a. This pin is madewith a head, d, at one end, as shown in Fig. 4, and a rounded point atthe other, an d inserted from the opposite side of the tumbler to thatin which the recess a is formed, and this head is received within arecess, 0, provided in the tumbler on the opposite side to the recess a.The said recess 0 also receives asprin g, f, which is secured to thetumbler bya screw, g, and which presses upon the head at in such manneras to cause the protrusion of the rounded point of the pin d into therecess a when it is not pressed back in the opposite direction by othermeans, as will be hereinafter described. The object of making the pin Dwith a head, d, is to keep it in the tumbler in putting the locktogether and taking it apart. The piece E, which constitutes thetrigger, the lever for drawing back the hammer, and the sear, works upona pin, 0, like an ordinary trigger, and only differs essentially fromtriggers which commonly have the sear h madein the same piece inhavingformed upon it, in rear of the sear h, the flat projection b,which, when the head of the hammer is down or forward, as shown in Fig.1 in black outline, (and there is no back pressure of the finger on thelower part of the trigger,) occupies a position justbelow the pin D. Thetrigger-sprin g j is applied in front of the trigger, and operates, inthe usual manner, to throw forward the lower part of the trigger,uponwhieh the finger acts. The extremity of the projection b is beveledon the side next the tumbler, as shown ate in Figs. 4 and 5, and indotted outlinein Figs. 1 and 2. The operation of drawing back the hammerby means of the piece E, or, as it may be termed, the trigger, is asfollows: When the hammer is down or forward, as shown in Fig. l in blackoutline, the drawn g back of the trigger by the finger brings the upperedge of the projection b into operation on the under side of theparallel portion of the pin 1), beyond its rounded point, and so throwsthe hammer back, as shown in red outline in Fig. l; but as the hammerarrives near the cooked position the bevel i of the said projection isbrought opposite to the pin D, and,by awedge-like action on the roundedend thereof, pushes the said pin toward the opposite side of the tumbleruntil the full-cock notch 12 of the tumbler has passed the sear h, whenthe rounded extremity of the pin no longer has any bearing on the saidprojection, and the hammer is let off, and its striking movement isproduced by the mainspring. On relieving the trigger of the pressure ofthe finger it reassumes the position shown in Fig. 1 in black outline,and the upper edge of the projection b, passing below the pin D, allowsthe latter to be pushed out over it by the spring f, so that it will beagain opera-ted upon, in the manner above described, to draw back thehammer by drawing back the lower part of the trigger. In this way theoperation of firing may be repeated as rapidly as the trigger can beworked by the finger.

When it is desired to cook the hammer in the ordinary way, by directapplication of the thumb, for taking a more deliberate and precise aimthan is possible in operating it by the trigger, the pin D offers noobstacle, as in the cooking movement the pin D moves upward away fromthe projection b, as shown in Fig. 1, which represents it at full-cockand the trigger free; and the said'pin D offers no obstacle to thestriking of the hammer, as it does not require to drop below the upperedge of the projection.

The point of the pin D instead of being rounded might be beveled in asuitable manner to operate in the same way.

What I claim as my invention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

l. [he construction of the trigger, the lever for drawing back thehammer, and the sear in one piece, or, in other words, making a singlepiece serve the three purposes of a trigger, a lever fordrawing back thehammer, and a scar, substantially as herein specified.

2. Theemployment,f0rthepurposespecified, of a pin, D, applied to work ina hole drilled transversely through the tumbler, substantially as hereinset forth.

EBEN '1. STARR.

Witnesses:

J. W. CooMBs, GEO. W. REED.

